Pip:

And do you think it affected the girls?

Jess:

Oh, Becca never, ever wanted to talk about her dad. But, yes, it was obvious it played havoc with their self-esteem. Andie started caring so much about what she looked like, about what people thought of her. There would be screaming matches when her parents said it was time to go out and Andie wasn’t ready, hadn’t done her hair or make-up yet. Or when they refused to buy her a new lipstick she said she needed. How that girl could ever have thought she was ugly is beyond me. Becca became obsessed with her flaws; she started skipping meals. It affected them in different ways, though: Andie got louder, Becca got quieter.

Pip:

And what was the relationship between the sisters like?

Jess:

Jason’s influence was all over that as well. He made everything in that house a competition. If one of the girls did something good, like got a good grade, he would use it to put the other one down.

Pip:

But what were Becca and Andie like together?

Jess:

I mean, they were teenage sisters, they fought like hell and then a few minutes later it was forgotten. Becca always looked up to Andie, though. They were really close in age, only fifteen months between them. Andie was in the year just above us at school. And when we turned sixteen Becca started, I guess, trying to copy Andie. I think because Andie always seemed so confident, so admired. Becca started trying to dress like her. She begged her dad to start teaching her to drive early so that as soon as she was seventeen she could take her test and get a car, like Andie had. She started wanting to go out like Andie too, to house parties.

Pip:

You mean the ones called calamity parties?

Jess:

Yeah, yeah. Even though it was people in the year above that threw them, and we hardly knew anyone, she convinced me to go one time. I think it was in March, so not too long before Andie’s disappearance. Andie hadn’t invited her or anything, Becca just found out where the next one was being hosted and we turned up. We walked there.

Pip:

How was it?

Jess:

Ugh, awful. We just sat in the corner all night, not talking to anyone. Andie completely blanked Becca; I think she was angry she’d turned up. We drank a bit and then Becca completely disappeared on me. I couldn’t find her anywhere among all the drunk teenagers and I had to walk home, tipsy, all by myself. I was really angry at Becca. Even more angry the next day when she finally answered her phone and I found out what happened.

Pip:

What happened?

Jess:

She wouldn’t tell me but I mean it was pretty obvious when she asked me to go and get the morning-after pill with her. I asked and asked and she just would not tell me who she’d slept with. I think she might have been embarrassed. That upset me at the time, though. Especially as she had considered it important enough to completely abandon me at a party I never wanted to go to. We had a big fight and, I guess, that was the start of the wedge in our friendship. Becca skipped some school and I didn’t see her for a few weekends. And that’s when Andie went missing.

Pip:

Did you see the Bells much after Andie disappeared?

Jess:

I visited a few times but Becca didn’t want to talk much. None of them did. Jason had an even shorter temper than usual, especially the day the police interviewed him. Apparently, on the night Andie disappeared, the alarm had gone off at his business offices during the dinner party. He’d driven round to check it out but he’d already drunk quite a lot of alcohol, so he was nervous talking to the police about it. Well, this is what Becca told me anyway. But, yeah, the house was just so quiet. And even months later, after it was presumed Andie was dead and never coming home, Becca’s mum insisted on leaving Andie’s room as it was. Just in case. It was all really sad.

Pip:

So, when you were at that calamity party in March, did you see what Andie was up to, who she was with?

Jess:

Yeah. You know, I never actually knew that Sal was Andie’s boyfriend until after she went missing; she’d never had him over at the house. I knew she had a boyfriend, though, and, after that calamity party, I had presumed it was this other guy. I saw them alone at that party, whispering and looking pretty close. Several times. Never once saw her with Sal.

Pip:

Who? Who was the guy?

Jess:

Um, he was this tall blonde guy, kind of long hair, spoke like he was posh.

Pip:

Max? Was his name Max Hastings?

Jess:

Yeah, yeah, I think that was him.

Pip:

You saw Max and Andie alone at the party?

Jess:

Yep, looking pretty friendly.

Pip:

Jess, thanks so much for talking with me. You’ve been a big help.

Jess:

Oh, that’s OK. Hey, Pippa, do you know how Becca’s doing now?

Pip:

I saw her just the other day actually. I think she’s doing well, she’s got her degree and she’s interning at the Kilton newspaper. She looks well.